A Christmas Carol – Reblogged

*It is still relevant, and a good reminder to many of us who get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season.

*I no longer work 11 hours a day (we were extremely short staffed then). I do still work 6 days a week all year long (this week it was 7, and there will be more weeks like it).

‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge ‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past

A lot of buying and selling. Yup. To my discredit, that is all that I have been able to see.

Every Christmas season, either my husband, or myself would read aloud to our children the classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. We would read a portion every night, and then, on Christmas Eve, we would watch the movie, starring George C. Scott.

It is a tradition that our children now practice with their children.

I am a US Postal employee. I work six days a week. That’s not a holiday schedule…that is my normal schedule. Like many offices, mine is short staffed. That’s just the way it is.

However, I have been, and am, working 9 to 11 hour days. That is the buying and selling that I have been seeing. Perhaps, because I am so tired, I am not seeing the wonderful gift giving inside the hundreds of packages and cards that I handle every day. Homemade jam, cookies, toys and more, shipped to those far away loved ones.

This post isn’t a rant, or a ‘pity me’ post.

Tonight, the words have come back to me:

‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past

I want to give a shout out to all of those postal drivers and workers, to UPS employees, to the FedEx employees, the retail clerks, the waiters and waitresses, to the bakers, and many more who have neglected their blogs, their families, and their Christmas card list. Those who couldn’t go to the Christmas parties and plays and concerts; who didn’t have time to bake holiday cookies and fruitcakes, nor go shopping and out to lunch.

To all of those who are working so diligently to bring a merry Christmas season to many others:

May you experience the love and joy from Him, of whom Christmas is really all about. And may you be blessed with much peace in the New Year.

Woah! That is a very tough working schedule Laura. It is a good reminder that we all need to be very thankful for the work that goes into making our Christmas season ‘perfect’. I hope that you have some peaceful moments to reflect on Emmanuel, God With Us, with your family and friends.